Editor, Canberra Times: Sir, in ‘Asylum-seekers blamed for Island’s problems‘, 3/10/09, Senator Barnarby Joyce, who visited Christmas Island, declared the asylum-seekers “seem very happy here”. It would be funny, if it weren’t so tragic.
These people are locked up under constant guard…prisoners, yet what crime have they committed? And how did Joyce suddenly become an expert on refugees and Christmas Island?
He loses more credibility when he states that because ‘many of the refugees had arrived with multivitamin tablets, they are economic migrants and not genuine refugees’. A moment’s thought would have saved him the embarrassment of making such a silly statement. Because they could afford vitamins, ipso facto, they could afford to fly to Australia as ‘genuine’ migrants rather than go through the uncertainty, the travail, of making a treacherous trip in a boat.
Immigration figures make him look ridiculous. These are: 641 people sent to Christmas Island have been found to be genuine refugees this year, while just 29 have been returned home. The rest are still being processed.
Marie Gordon, CLA member, Canberra ACT